It is well documented in the field of exploration and production of fossil fuels that worldwide oil reserves are finite and being rapidly depleted. Oil production in the United States reached a peak circa 1970 and is rapidly declining. Outside the United States, it is presently believed that peak oil production will reach a climax in approximately ten to fifteen years.
However, despite knowledge of the finiteness of the known reserves, demand for oil production and consumption continues to escalate due to increasing demands for energy within and outside the United States. Accordingly, despite any short-term price fluctuations in the commodity markets, it is expected that the price of oil will continue to escalate as known oil reserves become increasingly scarce. Eventually the price of oil will become too great to provide reasonably priced energy to fuel the global economy, thereby resulting in severe economic contraction of worldwide output of goods and services.
In addition to the increase in oil prices relating to the increasing scarcity of this commodity in view of increasing demand, the majority of known oil reserves are located in countries that are politically unstable. A government or cartel hostile to world economic growth could hold industrialized countries ransom to its oil by refusing to export its oil or charging ludicrously high prices. Sudden instability of oil production or price due to such hostilities is forecast and modeled to cause great economic rifts in our society. It is therefore important that we increase our reliance and resources on sources of energy that are readily available and renewable.
Other concerns regarding the use of fossil fuels are related to environmental factors. For example, the burning of fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide (CO2) and smog producing compounds, such as unburned hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen, which are generally released into the atmosphere. It is known that increasing concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere have resulted in climatic changes, notably global warming. It is further been predicted that global warming may also eventually cause severe rifts in the global society through the loss of arable land needed to feed an ever-increasing global population. Furthermore, global warming is further causing melting of polar ice caps, thereby raising sea levels resulting in further loss of land for increasing populations.
One such source of energy that is readily abundant and renewable is hydrogen. On a weight basis, hydrogen possesses three times more energy than an equivalent weight of gasoline. There are several known methods of producing hydrogen, for example, coal gasification, partial oxidation of oil, steam methane reforming, and biomass gasification, among others. Although these methods have been shown to be efficacious in the generation of hydrogen, a significant disadvantage and limitation in each of these methods is the co-production of carbon dioxide, which as discussed above is a leading cause of global warming.
An alternative process technology that does not have carbon dioxide as a byproduct is the electrolysis of water. High purity hydrogen and oxygen can be produced using a relatively simple electrolysis method. However, a significant disadvantage and limitation of electrolysis is the high electrical power requirements needed to split water into constituent elements of hydrogen and oxygen. Many factors in the electrolysis method contribute to these power requirements.
For example, since water possesses a high dielectric constant, the resistance in the current path between the submersed electrodes is high. In addition, there is a mass transfer resistance at the electrodes due to the abrupt disruption of the electrolyte at the electrode surface from the evolution of gas. This disruption also increases the resistance to the flow of electrical energy.
Furthermore, the active surface area of the electrodes limits the electrolysis process. Accordingly, a need exists to overcome these inherent disadvantages and limitations of electrolysis to split water into its constituent elements of hydrogen and oxygen.
Water vapor discharges have been investigated by scientists for the purpose of understanding the reaction mechanisms of chemical reactions. The intermediates or free radicals that are formed during the reaction were the main subject of interest in the historic literature. Another interest in the pursuit of water decomposition was to find a process of generating hydrogen peroxide.
An early attempt (H. C. Urey and G. I. Levin, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 3290-3293, Vol. 51, November, 1929), at understanding the reactions in dissociated water by the Wood's tube was the discovery that water vapor under the influence of an electric discharge dissociated water into hydrogen atoms and hydroxyl free radicals. They noted that the product gas consisted of ⅔ the amount in hydrogen for the conditions that were run in the experiments. The paper does not illustrate any process conditions or the method of analysis of the gas mix. They also detected hydrogen peroxide in the water condensed in the trap. They attributed the excess hydrogen from the intermediate decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide product and not directly from the water vapor. They give support to this assertion by noting that past observations state that hydrogen peroxide is formed first and then further decomposed to simpler species. Experiments were conducted to determine the presence of hydrogen atoms and hydroxyl radicals, which was confirmed by the activity of the gas. They noted the products from the water vapor discharge were more active than if only hydrogen atoms were present. There was no conclusive proof of the existence of these species as cautioned by the Authors.
Another group of investigators (R. A. Jones, W. Chan and M. Venugoplan, The Journal of Physical Chemistry, volume 73, number 11 page 3693-3697, November 1969) were motivated to investigate the formation of hydrogen peroxide using a vacuum microwave discharge. They investigated a range of process conditions using water vapor as the reactant and trapping the products of dissociation in a cold trap at very low temperatures. They determined the yield of hydrogen peroxide under varying conditions.
P. J. Friel and K. A. Kreiger, Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 80, p. 4210-4215, 1958 investigated the recombination of the high voltage discharge products of water vapor. They used various surfaces in order to effect the recombination reactions and determine the final product composition. They principally focused on using the surface of silica gel to study recombination reactions. They discovered that silica gel did not catalyze the recombination of hydrogen atoms. They speculated that a surface was an active intermediate 1m the subsequent reactions. The recombination reaction was accompanied by a temperature increase and a green luminescence on the surface of the gel. It was noted that under these conditions the principal products of the reaction was H2 and O2. The reactions were conducted in a moderately high vacuum (<300 millitorr) and extremely low flow rates (<20 millimoles/hour). In addition, reactions of the water vapor discharge products in a liquid air trap were analyzed and studied. Hydrogen peroxide, water and hydrogen and oxygen were formed. The predominant product were water and hydrogen peroxide as well as hydrogen. Most further studies centered about optimizing the formation of hydrogen peroxide or studying the OH free radical.
On Jan. 28, 2003, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, delivered to Congress the constitutionally mandated State of the Union address, available at whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030128-19.html. In this address, the President set forth a goal to promote energy independence for the country while dramatically improving the environment. Mr. Bush asserted in the address that “[I]n this century, the greatest environmental progress will come about . . . through technology and innovation”and implored Congress to “protect our environment in ways that generations before us could not have imagined.”
In the same address, the President offered a proposal to Congress to authorize $1.2 billion in research funding to place the United States at the forefront of developing hydrogen powered automobiles in which hydrogen is reacted to oxygen to generate the energy to power the automobile, producing only water as a by product and not exhaust fumes. Mr. Bush recognized this innovation would “make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much less dependent on foreign sources of energy.”
Subsequent to this address, it was reported in “Bush Hydrogen Initiative Fuels Debate,”cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS02/07/hydrogen.vision.ap/, Friday, Feb. 7, 2003, that most of the major automobile companies doing business in the United States already have operational hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicle prototypes being road tested. In the cited report, the spokespersons for these companies express optimism that hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles could be available to consumers within a decade, a timetable even more aggressive than the one proposed by the President. However, as reported in this article, this optimism is tempered by a cautionary note that “a hydrogen distribution system has not yet even begun to be developed.”
Despite the expressed enthusiasm presented by the automobile manufacturers, the President's goal of developing hydrogen powered automobiles was nonetheless met by others with stinging criticism. To quote one such criticism, “[W]hat Bush didn't reveal in his nationwide address, however, is that his administration has been working quietly to ensure that the system used to produce hydrogen will be as fossil fuel—dependent—and potentially as dirty—as the one that fuels today's SUVs. According to the administration's National Hydrogen Energy Roadmap, drafted last year in concert with the energy industry, up to 90 percent of all hydrogen will be refined from oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels—in a process using energy generated by burning oil, coal, and natural gas. The remaining 10 percent will be cracked from water using nuclear energy.” See, 1 “Bush's Hydrogen Fuel Comes From Oil . . . ,” Barry C. Lynn, Mother Jones, Mar. 6, 2003, published by Rogue Independent Media Center, rogueimc.org/2003/06/808.shmtl.
The article, from which the quote set forth immediately above has been obtained, states that the administration's proposal to obtain hydrogen from fossil fuels would effectively eliminate the benefits offered by using hydrogen as a fuel for automobiles since the process of producing hydrogen from fossil fuels still would result in the release of carbon dioxide, the primary cause of global warming, into the atmosphere and continue this country's dependence on fossil fuels, most of which comes from imported oil. In this article criticism is also directed to the major oil companies seeking to protect their dominance in energy resources through lobbying efforts to affect administration policy and congressional legislation and through acquisitions of small research oriented companies seeking to produce hydrogen from renewable energy sources. Should the oil companies be successful in protecting their dominance, the article infers that even with a hydrogen economy, the country will remain dependent of foreign sources of oil for generations to come.
Although the cited article, along with its criticisms, makes inference that water is a preferred source for hydrogen, it further states that the known technologies for breaking water molecules into its constituents of hydrogen and oxygen in commercially usable quantities are extremely energy intensive, as in electrolysis in which an electric current between an cathode and an anode immersed in water ionizes the water molecules such that the hydrogen and oxygen ions respectively migrate to the anode and cathode. The article cites the preferred source for such energy as nuclear power plants, which the article states are also unacceptable due to the ecological impacts such plants are known to cause. Accordingly, the article postulates that only 10% of the total hydrogen will be produced form water.
Accordingly, it is seen that the prior art, even with all the criticisms targeted at such art, envisions fossil fuels, being a fuel source rich in carbon and hydrogen, as the primary source of hydrogen production in the foreseeable future without regard to the necessity of removing such carbon in the form of carbon dioxide. Without containment, the carbon dioxide will further contribute to global warming. The use of fossil fuels for a source of hydrogen will cause even greater demand on the known reserves, which are being rapidly depleted.
Therefore, with the known prior art, the President's stated goal of energy independence and an improved environment are not met. In fact, adopting the apparatus and processes of the known prior art would continue the country's dependence imported oil and further accelerate the rapid depletion of known reserves of oil and cause further environmental degradation.
More recently, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the State of the State address delivered Jan. 7, 2004, called for the development of a “hydrogen highway.” The hydrogen highway Schwarzenegger referred to in his speech is a highway of fueling stations located along major interstate highways, according to a state environmental protection agency official.
In yet another article that has been reported at story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=289&ncid=289 &e=7&u=/ibsys/2004 0109/lo_kcra/1949844, environmental Secretary Terry Tamminen is the man behind Schwarzenegger's plan to make the hydrogen highway a reality. He says there is a good reason it doesn't exist already. “The energy companies don't want to make hydrogen fueling stations because there are no vehicles and the vehicle-makers don't want to produce vehicles because there are no fueling stations. So we are trying to break that chicken or egg cycle,” he said.
It was the stated goal of the California governor to have, by the year 2010, nearly 200 hydrogen fueling stations up and running. Tamminen says it will take about $100 million in public and private dollars to help companies build them.
At the University of California at Davis, those who have been leading the world's research on hydrogen cars are glad to see the governor finally jump starting the mass-production process. UC Davis's Dan Sperling told the station, “It will be good for the company eventually, but it will be good for society. So, we need the government to provide some rewards.” Prototype mechanics say once mass-produced, a hydrogen car's peppy performance will reward drivers, too.